1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to caps and other head coverings. The caps can be with or without a bill. The invention is applicable to hats and to items designed to be worn on the head which do not in themselves qualify as caps or hats. For example, this invention is applicable to head bands which include an eye shade.
There is some confusion in the nomenclature as to the meaning of the term "visor". In this patent, an extension of the crown of a hat or cap or head covering which extends generally forward, and for example casts a shade on the eyes, is called a "bill" or a "brim". The term "visor", as used herein, is restricted to a transparent lens or shield or screen to be operatively positioned in front of the eyes of the user.
The present invention has its most apparent and immediate utility in connection with caps of the type that have a forward extending bill. Such caps are often described as baseball caps. Throughout the specification, for ease of reference and economy of words, reference will always be made to a "cap", and the drawings use a cap as an illustrative example for the invention.
The present invention contemplates a sunscreen or anti-glare visor or light-reducing screen which is permanently attached to the cap, and which is capable of being stored in a non-operative condition inside the cap or in an operative condition, extending downwardly in front of the eyes of the user.
2. Prior Art
This is a crowded art, and there have been a number of developments in which a visor or sunscreen is combined with a headgear such as a cap or hat. In almost all of the known expedients, the position of the visor is fixed, and where it is not, the structure and function differs from that of the present invention.
Prior art of interest includes patents to: Fosher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,437; Liataud, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,838; Lynd et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,475; Wheeler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,109; Bedient, U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,150; Okamura, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,993; Kelman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,916; and Gerhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,859.
Patents to Kelman, Okamura, Bedient and Wheeler have visors but they are not believed to flip up and down as in the present invention. The patents to Lynd and Liataud are headband type devices that have bills as well as visors, but they are not believed to flip in and out of operative positions as in the present invention. The Fosher patent does show storage means inside the crown of the baseball-type cap, but the structure and function are different. The Gerhardt patent does not relate to eye protection but does relate to a cap with self-storing ear flaps. While the Gerhardt ear flaps do flip up and down, they are always biased toward wanting to flip inward and upwardly into the crown of the cap, and in their operative position, it is only the pressure against the ears of the users that keeps the flaps from folding up. Such a mechanism is desirable to keep what amount to earmuffs tight against the ear, but it is not what is desired in connection with an eye visor.
In contradistinction, the present invention provides two stable positions for the visor; stored inside the crown and flipped down in front of the face.
Just as the term "cap" used herein broadly means any type of head wear, the term "visor" used herein means anything that might otherwise be described as a sunscreen or sun shield or anti-glare screen or filter or the like.